Film & Beyond

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS

Stephen Frears

United Kingdom

2002, 97'

Genre

DRAMA

Recommended Age

14 years

VO. English, Somali, Spanish, French

With

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM X POETICAL REFUGEE

How far would you be willing to go to survive in your host country? For the characters in Dirty Pretty Things, it seems that no price is too high... A portrait of immigration that is as sensitive as it is violent.

A London hotel is home to a group of people who all have one thing in common: they are all immigrants dreaming of a better life. But hidden from view and beyond the reach of the law, a terrifying trade is exploiting these vulnerable individuals... Okwe, one of the employees of this sordid place and a former doctor, soon discovers the lucrative horror of organ trafficking run by Juan, the hotel manager. Despite Juan's insistence, Okwe refuses to assist him in these operations. But Senay (Juliette Binoche), with whom he has become friends and who dreams of a new life in America, is being pursued by immigration services and doesn't know what to do to escape them... Stephen Frears presents a work that is as violent as it is deeply human, terribly lucid about the precariousness of those most exposed to the cruelty of our Western societies.

Justine Roh

Direction

Stephen Frears

Screenplay

Steven Knight

Image

Chris Menges

Editing

Mick Audsley

Art Director

Rebecca Holmes

Music

Nathan Larson